'Born Free' story to get its own nature documentary

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the book, producers plan on telling the true story of one couple's efforts to raise a lion cub.

Who hasn't seen the movie "Born Free"? At the very least, most people would probably be able to hum a few bars of John Barry's memorable score from the film.

The 1966 classic was based on a book by the same name and told the story of Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised an orphan lion cub named Elsa to adulthood before releasing her into the wilds of Kenya. To celebrate 50 years of the inspiring tale, PBS will air "The Born Free Story: 50 Years Later".

"Joy was a much more complex character than she was in the script," said Virginia McKenna, who played the role of Joy in the movie. "The heart of the film was not about the Adamsons and their relationship, it was about their relationship with Elsa. Joy was complicated and passionate as well as enormously dedicated to understanding the individual animal. Many people criticize her — she was hard to get along with — but she poured all the money she made back into conservation."

According to Show Tracker, Sacha Mirzoeff, who directed the documentary, said the film will also show the difficulty of living among wild animals. "Living in the bush with animals was much more complicated. The couple struggled in different ways."